Abstract

This paper interprets the landforms of Yosemite National Park in light of a catastrophic, young earth model. It hypothesizes that glaciation in Yosemite was driven by processes following the Genesis Flood. Essentially, the energy stored as heat in the oceans following the Flood is believed to have generated a gigantic El Niño effect. Enhanced precipitation fell as snow in polar latitudes and on mountains as far south as the southern Sierra Nevada. This event occurred over a short period of time following the Flood and movements of glaciers produced by the heavy snowfall reworked the topography as seen today. Plans are formulated to simulate precipitation over Yosemite National Park using MM5, a conventional mesoscale meteorology model, under strong westerly flow across a warm Pacific Ocean. The warm sea-surface temperature (SST) of the Pacific Ocean in this simulation should produce heavier rainfall at low elevations and snowfall at higher elevations for progressively warmer SSTs. It is anticipated that precipitation rates computed from this simulation will be sufficient to explain the formation of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada over only a few hundred years. Fluctuations in SST during deglaciation are also expected to explain the resurgence of glacial coverage observed in Yosemite National Park similar to the Younger Dryas on the East Coast. The current “cold” Pacific Ocean doesn’t maintain permanent glaciers in Yosemite today. The contrast in climates between today and the early post-Flood world should be dramatic.